InPark Magazine: Does storytelling need to evolve for a new generation of audience, or is storytelling a constant around which other elements revolve?
As technology causes cultural shifts, the formats that we use for telling stories (such as pacing, length, visual complexity) evolve and respond to the way audiences absorb experiences. While the format may evolve and the tools we use continue to evolve both through specific technologies, and the immersive worlds we’re thereby able to create, the basic aspects of storytelling and communication remain the same.
12 comments:
The right pairing of technology and story telling is something really important that we talk about in relation to theatre a lot. it is interesting to hear this perspective coming form someone who works in theme parks, because you might not assume they'd take on this perspective, but they are first and foremost story-tellers just like theatre artists are. In both industries, it can be easy to be tempted by the latest technology, and allow your story to be molded around incorporating this technology. But as Phil Hettema explains, it is more important that the technology support the story. As he describes it, the attraction will quickly become dated if it is built around technology, rather than a story. The same can be applied to theatre.
There is a section in this article when Hettema says that it is easier to tell a story when many elements of the world can be assumed or are already known by the audiences. That is it more difficult to try and tell a completely new story through immersive storytelling in the theme park setting. I never really thought about this issue, but it reminds me of haunted houses and how a big concern there is to keep the audience on their toes and wrapped up in the excitement of the horror. Disney is actually a good example on an amusement park that immerses people using the well-known stories. It is easy for people to accept the rules of that “world” because Disney fairytales are so universally known.
With the use of technology, it must be easier to build an immersive experience when the options for mediums are getting larger. Like Hettema, I don’t believe that the whole art of storytelling needs to evolve for these new generations. However the technology that IS coming out can enhance the older styles.
It's really great to hear someone from the themed entertainment industry talk about story before technology. I could see where it would be tempting for a sector more focused on entertainment and enjoyment to tend towards spectacle first. The story vs spectacle, function vs form balance is a big one in any narrative medium. As technology becomes more complex, it is tempting to want to use something new. I would say it is much harder and much more prone to failure to take a cool piece of technology or visual element and create a story that really flows from it than to have a story and then pick something that supports it. When you start with the technology in mind, it will always be your priority.
One issue with contemporary media design is that so many people have and do use media for spectacle or because it's new and cool. This sets up the notion that media is always a frill or decoration and it creates a perceived expectation that media should be flashy and gadget driven. It's certainly a hard balance to achieve when using the latest thing is tempting, but it curtails the respect of the discipline and the success of the storytelling.
Storytelling will always evolve with technology because as technology progresses and becomes more sophisticated our expectations are risen. They are risen because as a society we strive for realism in creating just about any story because a part of us craves to our inner child. We as adults long to revisit our childhood as see the world in less cynical eyes. Where possibilities are endless and dreams can come true if you just believe. As each generation gets older more and more pressure to maintain a certain life style get placed on them with the growth of technology. Thus it would only make sense to place such a demand on storytelling to raise the wow factor of realism from the help of technology. Storytelling at its core never changes with this demand because at its core a good story can be told just as well with words than with all the technology in the world and that is why it stands the test of time.
In certain instances, a lack of technology almost provides a breath of fresh air. Hettema spoke to certain drawbacks that accompany the use of evolving technologies in storytelling, and I feel this is an absolutely critical point. It appears to be a growing trend that a flimsy, poorly developed story is held up by the flash and bang of the latest and greatest technology. Furthermore, technology can obfuscate a story's meaning and plot by distracting the viewer from the tale itself. Hettema discussed how technology can be used to create a more immersive experience - a statement that is indubitably true - but there is something to be be said for allowing the viewer to reach across the performer/audience divide and immerse themselves actively in a piece. The more "immersive" something is made, the more passive an audience member can be.
"Technology always needs to be in support of the experience, enhancing the story." I could not agree more with this statement. Far too often do big budget shows rely solely on how their fancy machines and technology can impress the crowd, but this 'wow' factor element hold the potential to distract the crowd and take them out of the story. What a successful designer and story-teller is able to do is find the 'hidden potential' of complex technology, meaning he or she can dig down and find ways the technology can be used not only to heighten the story, but to become essential to its telling.
The message of this article is fairly clear cut, the technology should help shape the story, the story should not mold to the technology. This is a very good guideline, and it is especially important advice to listen to as young ambitious students who want to do the latest coolest newest thing. However technology evolves, it only exists to aid in the creation of emotion in those that experience the story, not to actually create that emotion. Though short, I think I got something out of reading this down to earth opinion of real world dilemmas that can come with design process.
This article could not be more pertinent to what I am currently learning in one of my classes right now about story telling and the different ways it can be done or enhanced. I personally believe that technology or effects should never overpower the story, and if you are distracted from the story by the technology, it is being used in the wrong fashion. They should co-exist to work together in such a way that one compliments the other and neither over takes the other. With so many new methods of utilizing technology in the theatre or any type of entertainment, this line between too much tech and not becomes more and more indistinct for some and it is those people that need to remember that the elements of story telling can and probably will stay the same, it is the technology that needs to adapt to fit them.
This article reminds me of HvH and asks several of the same questions. I think in any story based field of entertainment the same questions are constantly coming up. What is the best way to tell the story? What information is needed? What can be left out? In terms of technology, I agree with others that especially in the field of themed entertainment, if something is built around technology instead of the story, it wont stand the test of time. To relate back to my previous rant, I think this is one of universal's biggest problems as an organization.
As the title states, storytelling itself is still the same at the core, technology is just a medium or a tool to help convey the world being created. Granted the technology can make it easier sometimes to convey the world. This is something everybody needs to remember, but I'm not sure they do, the technology should be used if it fits the story, not the story should be molded around the technology, that just doesn't make sense and wouldn't result in a very well written tale.
I agree with Michael wholeheartedly. I think it's not only fabulous, but fascinating that someone from the themed entertainment industry has such strong perceptions on the importance of storytelling, and how technology and design are merely tools to enhance the experience. I think I was surprised by this, because I view themed entertainment as being incredibly commercial, and wasn't sure how signifiant the story was when it comes to all the gizmos and gadgets that really draw an audiences interest and money. This article reminded me just how impotent the story is and all the neat tricks that we employ using technology are just ways that we've evolved to enhance the story tellings process. In reality without the story, the technology just becomes cool toys without any meaning.
Living in a technological age, we of course need to utilize every bit of the new and upcoming resources that are being invented. These resources are constantly making the entertainmetn industry bigger and better than before. Its quite exciting to watch a play that is traditionally done pretty bare and simple with added elements of technological wonder to it in order to spice the play up a little. Even though there are added elements, the storytelling essence will forever be there. You can not have a play or an amusment theme park ride without the element of storytelling in there because the audience would just be lost. The storytelling element will never be lost in this specific industry.
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